Comments on: When the tide turns: St Louis-Dakar

By: Mairame

Mairame — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:21:37 +0000

Hey Peter,
A co-worker told me about your adventure and I found it very fascinating. First of all, in behalf of all african folks, I want to thank you for the good cause. I was born and raised in Dakar and I have been living in the U.S.A. for about 6 years now. I was really shocked about all these incidents that occured in Senegal but I just wanted to tell you to keep your head up and know that others support you and appreciate what you are doing.
From now on, I’ll be following you on your journeys, and I hope to see more pics from the african continent.

fait beaucoup attention a toi.

By: Nick Wimberley (Dorchester)

Nick Wimberley (Dorchester) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:52:42 +0000

Glad to hear you’re ok Peter after your confrontation in St Louis. The old fasion way of keeping barrels of beer/cider cool in the summer was to cover them with wet hessian sacks, should work for you water bottles as well. Good luck.

Nick

By: mattm

mattm — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:32:46 +0000

Dear Pete

As an occasional touring cyclist with aspirations to go further, I have been enjoying your account of the trip and having read your tweets this evening, I’m really sorry to hear about the machete incident. I hope you get well soon and that this doesn’t put of you off the rest of your trip.

Best wishes, matt

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:33:23 +0000

@Dave Roberts,
Normal pedals with normal sandles. No different to last trip. I thought about clipping myself in, but I spend quite a lot of time off the bike.

By: Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:11:07 +0000

Dear Peter, a rather interesting website and refreshingly down-to-earth travel philosophy. One thing, which
I can’t tell from your photograph: are you using special clipless pedals and shoes, or more conventional footwear and ‘normal’ pedal – with or without toes-clips/straps? And is this the same as you used on your last trip?
I’m interested because your feet and ankles must be exposed to quite a lot of stress moving that bike around.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:20:38 +0000

Hi Peter,

I have just enjoyed reading your blog and hearing about your latest adventures! Looks like you’re having another exciting journey! I expect your last trip seems a long time ago now….and Japan even longer ago!

Love Catherine Xx

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:24:45 +0000

Cheers Tom, How’s that D90 treating you? You’re always welcome to join me on the road as I continue south – increasingly far away from Armenia though.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:23:12 +0000

Hi Taryn. I haven’t hooked up with hyenas before so that could be interesting….Exotic birds on the other hand…
Was good to chat briefly and thanks for the Wolof book. Need to look on the map, but you’ve made Ginak island sound interesting. Keep in contact and best of luck for the rest of your time in Senegal

By: Taryn Arbeiter

Taryn Arbeiter — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:37:14 +0000

Hey Peter- It’s Taryn from ultimate (wolof book). You weren’t the only one to leave ultimate with some bruises!

Anyway, I’m thrilled to follow your adventures through Senegal and beyond- I would like to do this on a small scale sometime after college so I’m interested to see how it works. If you’re still thinking about visiting Ginak Island, shoot me an email before you leave Dakar and I will give you some contacts in Kanuma and Kadjiata (the village on Ginak) so you can arrange cheaper transportation to and from the island with your bike and maybe have even better access to some cultural experiences.

I’m sure you’ve heard this but a small glitch that we ran into was never officially crossing the border with visas, stamps, etc. The Gambia border officials are notoriously… “vigilant” about this for when you cross into the Casamance. But the people on Ginak are great and the beach there is a great place to camp if you can work it out!

If you plan to take a detour down the Senegal coast, hit up my friend Chris in Palmarin, a PCV. He could probably hook you up with some hyenas, the salt extraction wells, exotic birds, Sereer lessons, a bucket shower and a great place to camp on the Senegal side of the Siné-Saloum Delta.

Good luck with Wolof and the next leg of your trip!

-Taryn

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:22:58 +0000

Just a great story, words and pictures… keep it up :)